Emirates touches down in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida

A ceremonial gift exchange between Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Western Hemisphere Hubert Frach and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport CEO/Aviation Director Mark Gale took place to celebrate the launch of Emirates Flight EK213 in Fort Lauderdale

Emirates has launched its 11th destination in the United States with the start of a daily nonstop passenger service between Dubai and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. A VIP delegation and a contingent of international media were aboard the inaugural flight, which carried passengers from North America, the Far East, the Middle East, South Asia, the Asian subcontinent and Africa.
Fort Lauderdale is Emirates’ second destination in Florida, after launching Orlando more than a year ago. The new service, operated by a GE-powered Boeing 777, marks the first scheduled commercial service from the Middle East to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport serving the South Florida area of Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach.
“Our new daily service to Fort Lauderdale will significantly enhance South Florida’s commercial and cultural connections. Emirates is proud to connect people across the globe and today’s inaugural flight illustrates the reach of our global network and the potential tourism and trade opportunities of our daily service,” said Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President Commercial Operations West 
Hubert Frach. 
“The launch of this historic route will allow us to offer Emirates’ unique product and award-winning service to passengers flying to and from South Florida to our home in Dubai and onwards to more than 150 global destinations.” 
“FLL is proud to welcome Emirates, one of the world’s premiere airlines to Broward County. This new service to Dubai and ultimately to the rest of the world, will provide our community with tremendous business and travel opportunities. With an estimated annual economic impact to our region of more than US $ 100 million and approximately one thousand new jobs as a direct and indirect result of Emirates arrival, we are confident this new service will mark the beginning of many more great things to come,” said CEO/Director Aviation Mark Gale.
“The Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport is one of the fastest growing airports in the United States, servicing more than 29 million passengers this year. We are proud to partner with Emirates Airline as together we make history by offering the first non-stop flight service from South Florida to the Middle East and beyond. Broward County is a leading destination market for tourists and an economic hub for businesses large and small. We have recently invested US $ 2.4 billion to expand and renovate our airport to insure world-class service now and in the future,” said Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief.
The new service will operate as flight EK213, departing from Dubai International Airport at 3:30 a.m. local time and arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) at 10:55 a.m. The return flight, EK214, will depart FLL at 8:20 p.m. and arrive in Dubai at 7:40 p.m. the next day, with a flying time of 14 hours and 20 minutes. The route will be operated by a GE-powered US-built Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in a three-class configuration offering eight First Class suites, 42 Business Class lie-flat beds and 216 Economy Class seats for travellers and up to 15 tonnes of bellyhold cargo for shippers.
Passengers wishing to travel beyond the Fort Lauderdale-Miami area to onward destinations can take advantage of Emirates’ partnership with JetBlue Airways (B6) that offers connection options to 32 destinations in the US and connection to destinations in Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru.
Passengers from the Middle East, Africa, South Asian subcontinent and the Far East can enjoy quick and convenient connections in Dubai before they travel onwards to Fort Lauderdale. In particular, passengers from destinations such as Beirut, Doha, Riyadh, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Cebu, Singapore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, as well as Colombo and Karachi will experience connection times of less than four hours while in Dubai.
With the launch of Orlando last year, the new service to Fort Lauderdale-Miami will provide travellers with more options to make the most of their journey. The increased flexibility to business and leisure travellers, combined with the ease and convenience of flying into and out these two gateways, is expected to add significant visitor numbers to the State of Florida.
Fort Lauderdale is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States thanks to its abundant sunshine and temperate weather. Its immaculate beaches and championship golf courses attract leisure travellers. Fort Lauderdale is also a popular destination for the cruise industry with Broward County’s Port Everglades one of the top three busiest cruise ports in the world with more than four million annual visitors.